Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Cravath, Swaine & Moore is a New York-headquartered law firm with approximately 570 attorneys. Founded in 1819, Cravath consistently ranks among the most prestigious firms in the United States, holding Vault's #1 prestige ranking for over a decade. The firm maintains offices in New York, London, and Washington, D.C., but its identity is rooted in its deliberately compact size and its outsized influence on how large law firms operate. Cravath's profits per partner of approximately $7.2 million place it firmly among the most profitable firms in the country.

Cravath holds Band 1 rankings in Chambers USA for Tax, Corporate/M&A, Litigation, Antitrust, and Capital Markets. The firm is regularly involved in the largest and most complex corporate transactions, including transformative mergers, high-stakes securities litigation, and landmark antitrust matters. Cravath's tax practice is widely considered the strongest in the country, and its M&A team routinely represents both acquirers and targets in multi-billion-dollar deals. The litigation department has tried some of the most consequential cases in recent decades across commercial, securities, and intellectual property disputes.

Cravath invented the associate development model that most of BigLaw now follows: the "Cravath System." Under this rotation-based program, associates spend time with different partners and practice groups before specializing, gaining broad exposure to the firm's work. The firm has no formal billable hour requirement, though associates report working long hours given the intensity of the matters. According to Chambers Associate, Cravath earns strong marks for associate satisfaction, and the firm is rated an Excellent Performer for pro bono. Partners work closely with associates on small teams, and the training is considered rigorous and hands-on. The summer class is approximately 123 associates.

Cravath's alumni include prominent figures such as Robert Todd Lincoln (son of Abraham Lincoln), former SEC chair William O. Douglas, and numerous Fortune 500 general counsels. The firm is also known for setting the market-rate salary scale that the rest of BigLaw follows, when Cravath raises associate pay, other firms typically match within days.